Broadband in rural areas
- 2 March 2011 19:2094923the government is shoving money around so that our straw chewing, smock wearing friends can get the internet access that most of us enjoy.
kent county council have £1.5 million to throw at rural communities that put over a good case for a grant.
seems like a good opportunity for our members that live in the remote outposts of river and whitfield to get together and lobby k.c.c. - Alec Sheldon
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 18 Aug 2008
- Posts: 1,037
2 March 2011 23:0494943Howard, I don't chew straw and I don't wear a smock and my broadband in Whitfield is fine thanks.
- 2 March 2011 23:2094948alec
can you pass that on to the people of whitfield and river that insist that they are village people please.
by that i m not suggesting that they dress up in strange garb to make hit records. - 3 March 2011 00:3994958Whitfield is lucky, the exchange that serves all the rural areas is there so their broadband speed is smoking.
Down here on the end of the line the last bit iof the delivery is by punched tape attached to homing pigeons
- 3 March 2011 13:3594991i take it that your fellow citizens in lydden will get together and present a case to k.c.c. ray.
- 3 March 2011 15:0995006Bit like ours at Mongeham :(Been nice knowing you :)
- 3 March 2011 17:0495014Ours was like that, at Tilmanstone, but our Parish Council worked on it and agreed to pay for maximum of 100 residents to be connected to V-Fast, for which we now have a reasonably good service for a monthly fee. Some people chose to be connected to '3' with a dongle, but there has been quite a bit of trouble at times.---------------------------------------------------
Lincolnshire Born and Bred - 29 March 2011 20:5899213the deadline for applications is drawing nigh, april 14 is the last day.
1.5 million used oncers are up for grabs.
time for putting down those pitchforks and opening a word file. - 30 March 2011 15:4499293HHHMMM, i wont start ranting about the so called fast broadband that i should have im a premium customer for with a certain company but i do hope these people dont use Mr Bransons one very slow indeed.
- 30 March 2011 16:0499300i usually avoid doing business with the said gentleman.
he even started an airline with a name that suggested the planes did not go all the way. - Brian Dixon
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
30 March 2011 16:1999301along with his so called mates.
- 30 March 2011 17:1299307Invest your money with Virgin. You can only lose it once.I'm an optimist. But I'm an optimist who takes my raincoat - Harold Wilson
- 30 March 2011 19:3699327Broadband definitely slower in Folkestone Road than it was in The Gateway - am I in a village now?
- 26 September 2013 11:22246051Critical report coming out from HoC Public Accounts Committee today - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24227096
I've been having some interesting communications with the KCC Cabinet member responsible after he wrote a glowing piece in Kent on Sunday about how wonderful it was all going.
We're not exactly in the middle of nowhere here in Lydden, the first house in the parish being just 600 metres from where the Dover conurbation ends at Temple Ewell, and just 5 miles from the centre of town.
However, the unofficial prediction is our broadband speed is likely to triple for those who pay out the extra for BT Infinity as it will only be taken as far as Temple Ewell, so mine would be hiked to a massive 1.5Mb/sec. And I'm in the half of the village that get the signal from the Archers Court exchange on copper wires, for the other half that get a signal from Shepherdswell on slower iron wires it's not even planned yet.
Any other 'rural correspondents' had information on upgrades so far? - 26 September 2013 11:41246052Rural superfast broadband chaos due BT's 'near monopoly', say MPs
Report says BT allowed to profit from £1.2bn of taxpayers' assets after no other companies won rural superfast broadband contracts
"Plans to roll out superfast broadband in rural areas are in chaos because government mismanagement has given BT a near-monopoly in the market, a report has found.
The report, by the Commons public accounts commitee, came as Labour questioned why Ian Livingston, the head of BT when the contracts were signed, was made a peer and a trade minister in June. Livingston, 49, received shares worth £8.9m when he left BT in June to take up his unpaid government role. He received £2.4m last year in salary, pension and bonuses, as well as £6.6m in shares.
In its report, the MPs said the Department for Culture, Media and Sport allowed BT to profit from £1.2bn of taxpayers' assets after no other companies won a single contract to increase broadband coverage across Britain.
BT has been quick to exploit its position by refusing to reveal costs to civil servants or coverage to local councils, the MPs said. This information would be crucial in guaranteeing that BT's bids are reasonably priced and fair for the public.
As a result, the committee has taken the unusual step of calling for the department to halt payments of a further £250m until ministers and civil servants introduce competition and value for money..."
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/sep/26/bt-rural-broadband-monopolyIgnorance is bliss, bliss is happiness, I am happy...to draw your attention to the possible connectivity in the foregoing. - 30 September 2013 11:52246471Broadband from the bell tower: the church that became an internet hub...
Fed up with inadequate broadband, an enterprising father and son installed a transmitter on St Andrew's church in Paull
"...Paull and his family live by a creek in the reclaimed marshland of Holderness, East Yorkshire, 10 miles south-east of Hull and six miles away from a main road. "No way are they going to dig a trench to lay fibre optic cable to our house, but they won't admit it," said Paull, as his dad, Simon, nodded enthusiastic agreement. "East Riding council have just given BT £14m to improve broadband provision in our area, but we understand we won't see any of that," said Simon, a moustachioed eccentric with bright eyes and big ideas.
Luckily, the Taylors predicted this at least a year ago and decided to take matters into their own hands. Fed up with waiting 20 minutes to download any email with an attachment, and cheesed off with not being able to stream the BBC's iPlayer, Paull and his dad came up with an idea.
They bought an off-the-shelf radio transmitter and receiver for about £80 and, along with a neighbour, persuaded St Andrew's, their local church in the village of Paull (where the young man got the unusual spelling of his name), to let them install the equipment on top of the bell tower.
After tapping into a nearby fibre optic cable, they were able to equip the church with a galloping internet connection. The church soon exploited this to turn their ad-hoc coffee shop into a cyber cafe. Suddenly 100 people were coming through the church doors each weekend, compared to perhaps 10 (on a good day) sitting through the Sunday sermon. "We have to find new ways to make ourselves relevant in this day and age if we want to stay open," said one church member..."
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/sep/29/broadband-bell-tower-st-andrews-church-paullIgnorance is bliss, bliss is happiness, I am happy...to draw your attention to the possible connectivity in the foregoing. - 30 September 2013 12:27246477I can recommend http://www.vfast.co.uk/."My New Year's Resolution, is to try and emulate Marek's level of chilled out, thoughtfulness and humour towards other forumites and not lose my decorum"
- 30 September 2013 12:37246481ingenuity indeed from the family, everyone's a winner as well as improving community spirit in the village.
- 30 September 2013 13:56246487We have vFast, excellent.---------------------------------------------------
Lincolnshire Born and Bred